Grammatical aspects of translation

Every word in English sentences is used in a particular grammatical form and the words of a sentence are arranged in a certain syntactic order. Syntactical order doesnt only provide for the correct arrangements of words, but it also conveys some additional information which is part of the whole content. Even if the bulk of the content is carried by lexical units, we shouldnt ignore the importance of grammatical structures, which together with the lexical units might confer special stylistic hues to a text. In many cases equivalence is achieved not only by means of direct equivalence in TL, but also by means of parallel forms. For example: Passive Voice is widely used in English sentences. Unlike English, Russian doesnt prefer such structures. Thus, it means that passive voice structures will be translated through active structures. Ex: This port can be entered by big ships only during the tide. . The specific word order of English sentences can still be changed, according to the purpose of communication. In such a way, if the aim of the sentence is to convey a certain new information, we must consider that new information into Russian is leaning to the end of the sentence. As future translators we must know that English word order can be changed only in cases when the text carries a certain stylistic bulk. Ex: Money he had none. If we compare the category of verb in the frame of English and Russian, well see that there is a huge dissimilarity concerning the problem of aspect, English seems to be much more pretentious, the aspectual nuances being clearly revealed. As a proof we can bring Present Continuous tense which correspond into Russian to Imperfective Structures which dont reflect the beginning or the end of an action. Ex: I am reading a newspaper. As we see, in order to reflect the idea expressed by Present Continuous tense, we need some additional words (, ) which will underline the same aspectual nuance. The same happens with Perfect tenses, which besides their perfective nuances might express an imperfective one. Thats the context which tells us about the type of action and equivalent we should reflect. Ex: I hoped he had read that book , . , . Another important problem is that of causative verbs, which are usually introduced by the verbs: to have, to do and other verbs, which acquire a causative meaning just in certain structures. They are usually followed by the prepositions into or out of. Ex: The general had his horse killed. Marry talked me into joining her business . The translators task is to look first for an appropriate structure which would convey best the causative meaning. Ex: The US administration wanted to frighten the people into accepting the militarization of the country. The most widely used means to express modality are the modal verbs. The translator should be aware that besides their modal character, modal verbs might have an auxiliar nature. Ex: I can see him approaching the University. Modal verbs can reflect different nuances denoting a special attitude towards the sentence. Thus, they can reflect probability, certainty, and possibility (both intellectual and physical).

For ex: the verb must expresses in the majority of cases probability, obligation, and certainty. Ex: She must be ill. Yesterday she had a high temperature. She must be in London now. Can expresses an intellectual or physical possibility and permition. Ex: He is good at Maths. I am sure he can solve this problem. He can carry this huge luggage. He is quite strong. May expresses permition and a low degree of probability. Ex: If you finished the problem, you may go out. She left an hour ago. She may be at home. Being combined with Perfect Infinitive modal verbs, especially can , may, and must loose their polysemantic nature. For ex: must + have + been reflects only certainty. Ex: He must have told her about his success. May + have + been always reflects probability. She may have helped him with his exam. Cant + have + been reflects improbability. She is a good girl, she cant have done it. A special attention should be given to the form might + have + been, which can express 3 different meanings: a prior action, an action that hasnt take place yet, and an imaginable action. Ex: I might have spoken too strongly. You might have done it yourself.